Waking Hour
by Hango
Summary: Three people, three different realizations: acknowledging a long shattered bond; finding hatred where one didn't expected; learning one's friend had dark secrets. One-shot.


**I don't own Young Justice. Rated T for some harsh language issues.**

**Waking Hour**

Artemis thought it was like the castle of Prince Charming. At least it looked like how she imagined it whenever her mother told a bedtime story when the blond haired teenager was a young girl.

It was indeed pretty stunning. The spotless marble floor, and the double staircase also made of the finest white marble from Carrara reflected the light spread by the crystal chandelier.

To tell the truth, Richard Grayson, adopted son of Bruce Wayne — the guy with a permanent place among the ten wealthiest persons on Earth according to the Forbes list — could've shown his guest in through the kitchen, where he preferred to enter the building himself.

But this time the dark haired teenager couldn't resist the urge to impress the girl, to give a hint of the spectacular wealth his stepfather possessed.

It seemed to work, given the amazed light burning in the dark and a bit almond-shaped eyes of the pretty blonde, a bit like the one in the eyes of a magpie when it saw something shiny.

He guided her into the lounge, more precisely one of the several lounges, the one they used regularly.

„Whoa! The money one might get for selling a gem like those would be enough for me and mom for years!" said an excited Artemis, pointing her index finger at a sword hanging over the fireplace in a scabbard, which was decorated with rubies the size of quail eggs.

„You'd totally deserve a stone like that. After all that you've done for me…"

Artemis wasn't so surprised by the gratitude of the boy. If it wasn't for the girl, Dick Grayson would've spent the night stuffed into his locker. It would've been made sure by a pair of jumbo-sized morons, who might only have attended to the elite school thanks to the money and relations of their parents, presumably attorneys, politicians or worse.

In fact, Artemis had never been a really heroic type of a person. She used to give Green Arrow torturing headaches instead, so hopelessly uncaring the blonde was.

The cause of this was neither immaturity nor selfishness; the root of her cynicism was mere pessimism. She looked away each time when facing injustice merely because she was sure others would refuse to help if she'd be in trouble.

It might be a bit weird, but despite her conviction, Artemis was part of a group consisting of teenage superheroes. Though it wasn't a big mystery why the blonde girl fought crime alongside with other extraordinary youths: Artemis loved the thrill of danger, and being overloaded with adrenaline.

This was the one and only explanation. No room for sublime morality, scruples and especially none for altruism there, really.

The situation with Dick Grayson was no different. Artemis has merely broken a couple of heavy, wooden chairs on the backs of those dickheads, simply because she hated their guts. Such bullies were menaces at Gotham North, the school she went to before. Boys, who weren't afraid to beat up even girls whenever they had a chance. So, it was more like 'preventive warfare' than help.

Dick was so moved by the "selfless" effort of Artemis, he decided to invite her to have ice cream. After exiting the school, however, they scratched ice cream, given the bad weather, and agreed to have a nice, warm cup of tea. And since Alfred Pennyworth, butler of Bruce Wayne was the only Englishman Dick knew in town, it was obvious they should have tea in Wayne Manor.

_Guess I accepted because he behaved so… naturally. Like if he didn't invite the girl, but the person who helped him, _Artemis mused. _Not to mention I'd need a math tutor…_

"If you'd finished staring, we should get to the kitchen" Dick announced, cracking a grin, and he touched the elbow of the girl gently. "Alfred shall make a pot of Earl Grey. And you should try his gingerbread as well. It's frenetastic!"

Artemis raised an eyebrow, and thought this guy and Robin could make good friends, given their common affection towards lame verbal jokes…

The kitchen of the house was a little piece of gastronomical high-tech. The old butler seemed rather anachronistic within this sterile, chrome sanctuary with amorphous equipment and digital display devices everywhere.

In fact, Alfred only stayed in the kitchen at the moment because this was the regular time of Master Richard getting home. Though the old man would've never admitted it, the successful arrival of the boy was always one of the most delightful moments of his day.

"Good afternoon, Master Richard. A bit later than usual, I'm afraid. I hope…"

The butler suddenly looked up from the chicken he was slicing, a thing he did just to do something useful while he waited. He's obviously realized there were other footsteps besides Dick's this time.

"Artemis, this is Alfred Pennyworth. He's responsible not to let us, puny billionaires to drown in dirt, or starve to death" Dick told the girl with a smirk.

"Good afternoon, Madam" said the butler with an emotionless expression, and before Artemis could've protested, he gathered her hand, and placed a gentle kiss on it. Artemis couldn't help but blush at the prehistoric gesture.

"I presume you may go upstairs and change clothes, Master Richard" said Alfred, glaring at Dick's disheveled shirt with disapproval. He didn't know the causes behind the bad condition of the boy's outfit were two sets of strong and relentless hands, of course. "By the time I will make some tea, and perhaps guide our guest around the house, if she may allow me to do so".

"Tea is a-okay, but I'd like to be the tour guide myself, Alfie. Hope you don't mind" said Richard Grayson, with a shadow of a smirk on his lips before disappearing behind the door.

* * *

><p>"So… what about guys? You have a boyfriend?"<p>

Artemis looked at Dick with the most disappointed glare she was capable to show, and she felt a bit ashamed, being so easily convinced to stay for dinner.

The question got her totally by surprise. There was no sign of being on a date: there were no candles on the table, no petals of roses on the cloth or any other cheesy romantic stuff… And they actually made it without any awkward piece of conversation until the dessert.

And now, having merely a taste of the delicious cheesecake, the hour of doom has arrived. There was no other choice: she had to dump this sweet little guy.

"I'm not dating" she said, her cheeks turning as red as the roses would be, if there were any. "It's not you, of course. I'm dating with no one recently…"

"Oh… Shit" said Richard quickly, and his face also became full with red warmness. "You completely misunderstood! Look, I'm not an idiot. You are much older than me, and also, girls like you…"

"What do you mean 'girls like me'?" inquired Artemis, her voice snapping more harshly than she intended.

"Well…" the boy became totally nervous seeing Artemis getting upset, but he was finally able to pull himself together: "Pretty ones like you. You are completely out of my league…"

Artemis allowed a light smirk to take control over her lips. She had no clue, what the little guy's up to, but the conversation started to become fun.

"The way you're flirting seems to be… ancient" she said. "Tell me: had Alfred been your tutor?"

"Ha-ha. Very funny. But seriously" Dick lowered his voice, and leaned a bit closer to the girl. "Can you imagine Alfred flirting with anyone?"

They burst out with laughter, and their voices were young and full of joy. Dick's immaculately white teeth sparkled in the light, as he was laughing wholeheartedly, and Artemis suddenly found this boy strangely familiar.

"Nah, seriously" said Dick, wiping away the tears of laughter with his napkin ", I'm just curious. But you don't have to answer if you don't want to".

"Yeah, of course there's a guy" she said ", but I really don't want to talk about it... er, him".

"Well, that's okay" shrugged the black haired boy. "It's not like the world's gonna end..."

This was a mere second before they've been consumed by darkness.

* * *

><p>"My men are growing impatient" told the man dressed in a pitch black keikogi. "They want to know when the attack will take place".<p>

The woman stole a glance at the blank windows of the enormous building, staring at the hollow park as a dead man's eyes.

"We won't wait any longer, Senpai. All lights died out. Wayne and the staff must have gone to sleep, or out of the building. This is our chance" replied the woman, and she placed the striped cat mask on her face. "Your group would go upstairs, and you'll also check out the basement. Ground floor is mine".

"All alone? Are you… sure? I can give you a warrior, to cover your back, if you want to…" said the man dressed in black timidly.

"No, thank you. I… have had enough of useless partners for a lifetime" said the woman, and a pair of dark eyes flashed in fury through the black holes of her mask.

* * *

><p>The beam of strong light helped Artemis to recover from the shock of not being able to see anything. It was Dick, using the surprisingly strong flashlight built into his cell phone.<p>

"Guess it's just the fuse. Alfred will…"

"Stay calm, Mr. Grayson. You too, Miss Crock".

The brief warning coming from somewhere in the corner of the room has had the complete opposite result. Artemis became fully alarmed.

The blonde girl was not a particularly scary person, but the voice was frightening enough to terrify even her. It was low and rasping, and also channeled pure malevolence.

Her steadiness only lasted for a second, though, because she realized soon enough she knew the voice. Seemingly Dick Grayson also figured out the identity of the mysterious stalker, because he said:

"B… Batman?"

It was so obvious, the Dark Knight didn't even bother to assure him about that. He jumped right to the point instead:

"Is there a panic room in the house, Grayson?"

"Yes, of course…"

"Bring the girl there. Lock yourselves up" the masked man demanded.

"But…"

"Do as I said. Now!"

The voice silenced them both; there was so much authority in it. Dick grabbed on Artemis' hand automatically, and tried to drag her out of the room.

"What happened?" Artemis stopped at the door with sudden determinacy to learn about the situation, and tried to stand her ground. "Sir". She added unconfidently.

But the man was nowhere to be seen. They looked away for less than a second, but it was enough for Gotham's top crime fighter to disappear.

Artemis shook her head in annoyance. She understood the hidden meaning of Batman's words:

_Look after Dick Grayson._

And she will. Right until he locked himself into that reinforced room….

She snapped out of her train of thought. Something was missing.

Her hand… Dick let go of her hand. And that was not all.

At the same time, the boy vanished into thin air either.

* * *

><p>"The library" Cheshire realized, remembering to the blueprints of the building.<p>

Though there was no light visible between the threshold and the door, Cheshire wanted to be sure the room was really empty. She switched her mask to infrared. Beneath the viciously smiling cat mask, her own lips curled into a vicious smirk either.

She saw large red dots moving upstairs: assassins of the League of Shadows. And there lay yet another body upstairs, right above the library. She remembered that room was the bedroom of Bruce Wayne. He must've been sleeping, totally unaware of the danger lurking towards him.

What was way more interesting, that the heat signature of a small person was also visible, right in front of Cheshire, beyond the double doors. It was not too difficult to guess who the unknown person was.

She pulled her sais out from her belt, turned back to nightvision, and entered the library as quietly as possible.

The female assassin dodged to the left at mere instinct. The realization she's been tricked only hit her a few seconds later.

At the exact spot, where she expected the Grayson kid to crouch, an electric radiator was standing, the kind of thing one could buy at any supermarket. It was most certainly heated to the normal level of human body temperature.

While the sudden movement was necessary, it was not a pleasure at all. Cheshire threw herself at the wood flooring in such full swing she crashed into a heavy mahogany table, making it to slide a few feet, and all the air has been pressed out from her lungs.

But these split seconds certainly saved her life, given a heavy iron poker crashed into the floor exactly where she used to stand.

The poker was held by a slim figure, who was still panting due to the great physical effort. Cheshire could understand that. Holding onto the coffered ceiling for so long must've been quite exhausting.

"Well, well. You've been able to fool me, Blondie. I thought you were Bruce Wayne, slumbering upstairs, when I looked at your heat signature".

The other one remained silent for a while, trying to catch her breath, and she slowly lowered her heavy weapon which she's probably borrowed from the living room, where the fireplace was. Finally, she spoke up:

"Surrender, Jade. It was all a trap. The Batman is here, and I think Robin as well".

The smirk disappeared from Cheshire's still invisible face, but it reappeared soon enough.

"So now you're warning me? Giving me a chance to disappear again? I knew you'd care…"

Artemis remained silent, and there was a certain uncomfortable aura radiating from her. This made Cheshire feel uneasy.

"But… You tried to kill me with that thing" the assassin pointed out the obvious, fixing her gaze at the heavy piece of metal in the blonde's hand. "For heaven's sake, why? To silence me for good?"

The blonde girl still didn't say anything, not a single word, and she didn't let go of the poker either. Fury started to grow inside of Cheshire.

"Tell me, already! You wanted to kill me? After all the things we've been through, the sweet memories we share… We've been friends, Artie!"

"Nothing ever happened between us, Jade. The person back then… it wasn't me." Artemis finally found her voice, and it was filled with rage and disgust. "It was an ignorant little girl, who thought you were a cool person. That's all".

"You bitch! Don't you dare lie to my face!" Cheshire was practically snarling, as she ripped the mask off her face, and glared at Artemis with her inky eyes, features distorted by anger. "Those were the best of times for both of us, and you know that. You cannot possibly want to pretend it never happened".

"I don't. But it's over" said Artemis calmly. "I've been done with you for a long time now".

"You cannot erase the past so easily. Have you forgotten the arrows hitting all those unarmed, clueless people? Who'd shot those arrows, Blondie?"

"I told you. I was a kid, a kid blinded by her emotions towards her father…" protested the blonde. "I've regretted it countless times ever since. Unlike you, as it seems".

"I only regret one thing: letting you go. If I hadn't, Black Canary would never have found out about you, and you've never been sent to that ridiculous Robin Hood-imitator from Star City…" said Cheshire, and she put away her daggers. "I'm leaving now. And though I shouldn't trust you after… what just happened, but if you want to join me… I'm not gonna chase you away. Because I still care about you, Artie".

She turned around, and started walking towards the window with slow, confident steps.

But Artemis seemed to be determined not to let her go. She jumped forward like a panther, wielding the heavy piece of iron using both hands. It was exactly the move Cheshire had expected.

No matter how agile Artemis was, her motion was as graceful as Yogi Bear's compared to Cheshire's elegant movements.

Cheshire used the girl's own weight to throw Artemis over her shoulder, and then she pushed her against the floor.

"You sneaky little bitch" hissed Cheshire, her face mere inches from Artemis' while the edge of her sai pointed at the girl's throat. "You think you can outsmart me? I wasn't born yesterday, toots!"

"Go ahead! Do it" said Artemis, her lips coming apart a littlebit. She took a grab on the hand of Cheshire which held the sai, and pushed the edge of the weapon a littlebit against her own throat.

Cheshire pulled her sai away immediately. Seeing the serious shining in Artemis' eyes left her speechless. Or was it facing her own reflection in those inky orbs?

„What the… Why would you say something like that?" Cheshire asked softly.

„Look, if you're not going to kill me, please get off me…"

„You wouldn't do it if you were in my place… you wouldn't! Not… like this" said Cheshire finally, showing a troubled expression, and she dropped her weapon on the floor.

„Are you sure?" inquired the blonde, raising an eyebrow.

„I am" said the dark haired girl finally.

„You know, I just realized something" mumbled Artemis slowly. "When you said you weren't born yesterday… Well, I think you'd spoken too soon".

At the very moment the door burst open, and the assassin jumped onto her feet. She watched with growing terror as a tall and muscular man entered the library, dressed in black, like a storm cloud made of flesh and blood. Artemis took advantage of her confusion, and picked up the dropped sai.

Cheshire didn't even notice. She fixed her gaze at the Batman, and stood into a defensive stance.

But the ambush came from a slightly different direction. The window exploded, and a small figure jumped through it, made a cartwheel, and arrived neatly onto his feet. Watching the short boy, dressed in a red and black costume, Artemis expected him to spread his arms and let out a loud 'ta-da!'.

The distraction provided by his ward was enough for the Batman to take a relaxed leap forward, and knock the sai from Cheshire's hand using his spiked glove made of kevlar. Cheshire was backing perplexedly.

But it was not the Bat who delivered the final blow. A slim, but strong arm appeared around Cheshire's neck, alongside with the assassin's own knife.

"You bitch! You backstabbing whore!" hissed Cheshire, showing her teeth.

"I'm sorry, Jade" Artemis told her, and she did feel sorry. "This is something I should've done before".

"You fool! I know your secrets!" cried the dark haired woman. "I'll ruin your life!"

"I'll take that risk" said Artemis seriously, and she tried not to care about the surprised looks sent towards her from beneath Robin's domino mask. "I've been through hell already. I think I can handle going back, you know".

Artemis held the other girl tightly while Batman put a handcuff around Cheshire's wrists, and then the blond started to walk towards the exit.

"Where do you think you're going?" inquired Robin. "You owe me some sort of an explanation, don't you think?"

"You'll find me at Mount Justice, after you finished here. Er… maybe you'll get there sooner than me".

Seeing the puzzled expression of her teammate, Artemis let out a light sigh, and she moved a bit closer to the teenage hero.

"Look, I swear I won't try to run away, whatever Cheshire wants to tell you" the blonde told the dynamic duo, while she was quite sure the only person in the room who had no clue what Jade knew was in fact Robin. "Besides, it wouldn't make any difference. You'd hunt me down if I'd try to escape".

With that, she turned around, and walked away. No one tried to stop her.

Artemis really hoped Kid Flash is currently at the HQ. She needed to have a nice verbal struggle with someone right now, to let her anger out.

No… That was stupid. What she needed now was a friend. Someone, who'd listen to her, who'd reassure her.

She really hoped Wally West was suitable for that purpose as well.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, the title sucks, I guess. Tried to explain why is it the title in the summary... guess that sucked as well :) All in all, I feel now, when publishing that it all is a dead end. I didn't even want to publish, but I figured I'll have to, given all the effort I put into it :)<br>**

** Now, I've erased a lot of things from the final version of this, to make it shorter, including a whole discussion between Dick and Artemis about Wally, because I've felt it boring. Wait... the rest is boring as well? Oh, too bad :)  
><strong>

**Please, leave a review if you feel like (I strongly suggest you should feel like :))**


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